Exercising activity with specialized equipment has increased dramatically in recent years. Indeed, memberships at gymnasiums have substantially increased and the types of home exercise equipment available for use by individuals has grown.
Health issues and the minimization of health problems has become a focus of many individuals. One of the more common health problems experienced by a large segment of society is back pain. In general, back pain can be caused by a variety of factors, including excess weight, stress, improper lifting techniques, and weak abdominal muscles. Most individuals are aware of the types of health issues, including back issues, raised by excess weight, stress and inappropriate use of the back muscles to lift object, and the manner in which to resolve these issues. However, many individuals do not realize that the alleviation of back issues can, in part, be accomplished by strengthening abdominal muscles and the torso.
The torso, and in particular, the abdominal muscles are the ‘power house’ for the body. Generally, strong abdominal muscles assist in the development and maintenance of good posture and can minimize back pain as a strong abdomen assists in reducing inappropriate use of back muscles and strain of those back muscles.
Some exercise equipment has been developed to address weak back muscles. In particular, one simple apparatus was a straight bar. The straight bar was used by individuals to twist side to side from the waist. In use, the bar was placed behind the neck and across the back of a user. The user wrapped his arms around the portion of the bar that extended beyond his back and twisted side to side from the waist. One problem with this type of apparatus is that the linear configuration of bar caused the neck to be strained backwardly in an unnatural position. The positioning of the neck behind the alignment of the body tended to cause tendon strain in both the neck and back.
Later configurations of this type of equipment utilized yokes in the design such that a portion of the bar wrapped behind the neck. In this configuration, the linear arms of the bar extend slightly in front of the user such that the user's neck was no longer unnaturally tilted backwards during use. One example of this configuration is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,781 to Kane. Although the Kane configuration tended to alleviate the unnatural backward positioning of the neck, the design allowed the apparatus to rest on the base of the neck and shoulders. This type of design can cause fatigue to the user and affect the user's movement during a workout. Further, the positioning of the bar slightly forward of the body allows the yoke to be forced into the back of the neck if the user pushed forward on the bar. Additionally, this configuration limits the muscles exercised as the user is limited in hand placement.
A need in the industry exists for an exercise apparatus that can effectively strengthen the torso and abdominal muscles without straining the neck or back muscles. Further, a need exists for an exercise apparatus that allows for a variety of exercises thereby effectuating a variety of muscle regions in the torso and abdomen.